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08-01-2022 CCMMembers Present: Members Absent: Meeting of the Elk River City Council Held at the Elk River City Hall Monday, August I, 2022 Mayor John Dietz, Councilmembers Garrett Christianson, Mike Beyer, Matt Westgaard, and Jennifer Wagner None Staff Present: City Administrator Calvin Portner, Public Works Director Justin Femrite, City Attorney's Peter Beck and Jared Shepherd via Zoom, and City Clerk Tina Allard I . Call Meeting to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River City Council was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Mayor Dietz. 2. Pledge of Allegiance Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. Consider Agenda Mayor Dietz thanked everyone for their work on Elk RiverFest. Moved by Councilmember Wagner and seconded by Councilmember Beyer to approve the agenda. Motion carried 5-0. 4. Consent Agenda Moved by Councilmember Westgaard and seconded by Councilmember Wagner to approve: 4.1 July 18 and Monday July 25, 2022, minutes 4.2 Check register as outlined in the staff report. 4.3 Adopt Resolution 22-44 approving notice of summary publication of Ordinance 22-17, an ordinance outlining an increase in the permitted accessory structure maximum square footage for parcels one to five acres in size 4.4 Solid Waste Facility License for Waste Management as outlined in the staff report. Motion carried 5-0. S. Open Forum Gary Stritesky, 12808 Orono Road, expressed concern about lake weeds after the recent dredging project. City Council Minutes August 1, 2022 Page 2 Council directed Mr. Portner to provide information about the weeds. \� 6.1 Introduction of Elk River Municipal Utilities General Manager Deputy General Manager Mark Hanson introduced himself. Council welcomed Mr. Hanson. 6.2 Retirement Recognition: Dawn Swanson Ms. Allard discussed Ms. Swanson's history with the city. Mayor Dietz read and presented a plaque to Ms. Swanson and thanked her for her service. 7.1 Consider Issuance of Competitive Cable Franchise by Tekstar Communications, Inc. (Arvig) Ms. Allard presented the staff report. Mayor Dietz opened the public hearing. Joel Smith, Manager of Video Operations with Arvig — Provided a history of his company. He stated the TV service they'd like to offer is app-based and can be streamed on devices. He stated they want to provide services in Elk River to customers currently being served with their telephone and internet services. Mayor Dietz questioned if Arvig would be serving the same locations Spectrum currently serves. Mr. Smith stated no. He stated they are interested in providing service in areas where they already have fiber facilities within the city. He stated as new areas are brought to them, that they can build a business case around, they would look to offer the same service in those areas. Councilmember Christianson asked when they could start laying fiber. Mr. Smith stated they could enable the TV service at anytime with the existing fiber structure. He stated they could offer service the day after an agreement is formalized. (Mr. Fraser spoke regarding a different topic.) Scott Fraser, 11678 200th Avenue, stated there is no way for residents in the Brentwood Subdivision to access Highway 169 when the Highway 169 project will be complete. Public Works Director Justin Femrite assisted Mr. Fraser with his concerns outside the Council meeting room. OWA 1■ E A E I 1 1 INATUREI City Council Minutes Page 3 August 1, 2022 �~ Mayor Dietz closed the public hearing and asked Mr. Shepherd if he had any additional comments. Mr. Shepherd stated there is no further action needed from Council tonight and the attorney would come back later with a full report. Council recessed at 6:51 p.m. to go into worksession and reconvened at 6:53 p.m. 8.1 Discuss Work Session Items Mr. Portner reviewed the staff report. 9. Council Liaison Updates Councilmembers provided updates as outlined in the respective advisory boards' minutes. 10.1 Highway 10 Access Study Mr. Femrite presented the staff report and introduced SRF Consulting Group Project Manager Molly Stewart. Ms. Stewart discussed the study and highlighted the following in her presentation: ■ Project schedule ■ Study area ■ Characteristics ■ Study goals ■ Issues and needs ■ Engagement efforts ■ Long term alternative development process ■ Next steps She noted the study would be a guiding document as development occurs until funding becomes available for conversion to a freeway system. She stated a second phase of the project is working with MnDOT on interim solutions to relieve traffic issues until the freeway can be built. She asked for Council feedback on the study. Mr. Femrite updated Council on conversations with MnDOT regarding interim solutions for the highway. He stated MnDOT would like to eliminate the signal at 171" Avenue and install a Reduced Conflict Intersection (RCI). He stated MnDOT is strongly supportive of the RCI concept, but an agreement was never reached on this solution because our focus groups, local businesses, and area trucking companies don't feel this type of intersection will work for them. He explained there are no recommendations in the study because agreement couldn't be reached on interim road improvement solutions. He further explained the secondary study and the need to develop alternative interim solutions to highway issues. 10■EAEI Ir NATURE City Council Minutes .august 1, 2022 Page 4 Councilmember Westgaard expressed concerns with how the study reads with stating access points will be closed and there is no agreement in the document on types of allowable intersections. He noted the study shows 171" Avenue as being closed and questioned if the recommendation is to close it. He stated when discussed previously, Council talked about maintaining access at 171" Avenue due to business density. He stated to move the access to Twin Lakes Road, and traffic passing them by, the opportunity is lost to get back to these businesses. He'd like to try to maintain the 171" Avenue access. He felt this study shows the access as being closed and he wants to be careful to show they are accepting of the study. Mr. Femrite stated the city doesn't have to accept the study and tonight is about a first review before bringing it back to MnDOT for comments. He stated we can set a process on what we would like to see and reengage public feedback. He stated language could be added to the final study to support what the community feels and wants to see. Councilmember Westgaard questioned if there was enough right-of-way on the south side of Highway 10 in the northern segment study area to put in a frontage road, noting it seemed like a lot of acquisition would be needed. He stated the southern segment of the study area is even more complicated, as it ties into the City of Ramsey, noting traffic gap issues. Mr. Femrite noted the purpose of the study is to help answer questions and guides us as development occurs and before there is funding and money available to convert Highway 10 to a freeway, which is MnDOT's goal. The study will assist the city in getting dedicated right-of-way needed ahead of freeway development. Mayor Dietz noted there are a lot of access points suggested to be closed along the route. Mr. Femrite stated we have heard concerns on this and should have a response back to MnDOT on community wants/needs. Mayor Dietz stated he would like to preserve as many access points as possible. Councilmember Wagner stated she is assuming that the feedback received doesn't correlate with the study, otherwise the room tonight wouldn't be full. Ms. Stewart stated during their engagement efforts there was a lot of support for grade separation over maintaining signals due to operational and safety issues. She said this is a high-level planning stage document and the concerns are about the details of the project. She outlined the phases of a complex project like this before getting to the point of closing access. She stated the document helps guide future development. She stated as the community gets to the design and development phase there is more one-on-one engagement. Y E A E I I I [N'ATURE] City Council Minutes August 1, 2022 Page 5 Councilmember Wagner stated once a plan is in ink, it's in ink; and this study does not fit with where Elk River is feeling currently. She stated she doesn't support the study and feels more work is needed. She questioned if we could do a stoplight at Highway 10 and Twin Lakes Road. Mr. Femrite stated indications from MnDOT is they do not support additional stoplights on this corridor. Councilmember Beyer concurred with previous Council comments. Councilmember Christianson stated a plan is needed to guide the area going forward and he is glad the community is in attendance tonight participating in the process. Mayor Dietz recommended sending the study back for more work and suggested a specific chapter addressing each access point. Chad Lundquist, Riverview Sports, expressed concerns with this being a final study and not considering the area businesses in a focus group. He stated he was not informed of this process and should have received letter notifications. Mayor Dietz noted the Council was not in favor of accepting the study as drafted as the have the same concerns as the people in the audience tonight. He further noted it's a guiding document being reviewed in a worksession meeting where action couldn't be taken. Brandon Wistrom, owner Deano's Collision and Automotive, thanked Council for their support and noted everyone in the audience was concerned the study was going in a different direction. He stated there were concerns with language in the study about it being a final report. He would like to have input and be notified. Council would like to make sure the areas affected are notified and can provide input. Ms. Stewart stated they do maintain an email list and can contact people in other formats. She suggested if people are interested, they can contact her or Mr. Femrite. II. Adjournment There being no further business, Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting of the Elk River City Council at 8:00 p.m. *Jn tz, Mayor TV-Ta-Atard-,-f--'i-ty Clerk et�z i�iC hkr Ix�.ly ci� CfCr1S 11�EIE1 11 INATME]